Week 2 - #9 Sac State vs Texas A&M Commerce
The Hornets (1-0) open up the home slate against the Texas A&M University - Commerce Lions (0-1) of the Southland Conference. The Lions are in their 2nd season of FCS football, first season under Head Coach Clint Dolezel and were picked to finish 6th in the SLC this season. TAMU-C looked awful in their opener at home against our Causeway foes in a 10-48 loss last Thursday night.
Offensively, the Lions spread things out and look to hit a lot of short routes underneath and to the edges. They also mix in some read option looks. The quarterback snaps were split between Josh Magana (5/7, 89 yds, 1 TD) and Peter Parrish (6/12, 54 yds, 3 INT, 8 car, 10 yds) last week with Parrish taking the bulk of the snaps. Neither of them looked impressive. Parrish tucked and ran pretty quickly when the initial read wasn’t there. Seven different players caught a pass last week, but the highlight was wide receiver Keith Miller III (2 rec, 72 yds, 1 TD) getting the Lions in the endzone on a 65 yard play. At running back, the Lions split between Ra’veion Hargrove (12 car, 48 yds,1 rec, 9 yds) and Shamenski Rucker (7 car, 47 yds, 3 rec, 17 yds). Neither of them got much going on the ground until garbage time, but Hargrove is a shifty runner that can make plays in the open field. Up front the TAMU-C offensive line has a lot of size but isn’t very athletic. They struggled with the quickness of the defensive line last week.
Defensively, TAMU-C was completely outmatched last week and will be outmatched again this week. The Lions run a 4-2-5 and struggled to stop much of anything and displayed some very poor tackling. However, to their credit, the Lions did force 4 turnovers (1 came in garbage time) against an offense that was tabbed to finish atop the BSC in offensive production. Safeties Daryion Taylor (9 tak, 1 TFL, 1 INT) and Max Epps (8 tak, 1 INT) led the Lions in tackles last week and defensive end Warren Robinson (1 tak, 1 TFL, 1 sac) got a sack and a forced fumble.
On special teams the TAMU-C kicker, Emmanuel Adagbon (1/1 FG, 1/1 PAT), looks more than capable as he hit a 39 yard field goal that was set up by an interception right before halftime. Their punter, Mitchell McGarry (6 pnt, 38.8 ypp) had a busy night with a long of 46 yards. In the kick return game, Sean-Krystoff King had a long of 25 yards.
Position Advantage
This game should be over well before halftime and the Hornets should dominate across the board. The Lions don’t have much D1 talent on the roster and just look like a total mess at multiple positions. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hornet coaching staff keeps anyone with minor injuries from playing in this one. Hornet win in a rout.
Stingers Up!
TAMU-C Week 1 Highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ7qH79xZF4
The Hornets (1-0) open up the home slate against the Texas A&M University - Commerce Lions (0-1) of the Southland Conference. The Lions are in their 2nd season of FCS football, first season under Head Coach Clint Dolezel and were picked to finish 6th in the SLC this season. TAMU-C looked awful in their opener at home against our Causeway foes in a 10-48 loss last Thursday night.
Offensively, the Lions spread things out and look to hit a lot of short routes underneath and to the edges. They also mix in some read option looks. The quarterback snaps were split between Josh Magana (5/7, 89 yds, 1 TD) and Peter Parrish (6/12, 54 yds, 3 INT, 8 car, 10 yds) last week with Parrish taking the bulk of the snaps. Neither of them looked impressive. Parrish tucked and ran pretty quickly when the initial read wasn’t there. Seven different players caught a pass last week, but the highlight was wide receiver Keith Miller III (2 rec, 72 yds, 1 TD) getting the Lions in the endzone on a 65 yard play. At running back, the Lions split between Ra’veion Hargrove (12 car, 48 yds,1 rec, 9 yds) and Shamenski Rucker (7 car, 47 yds, 3 rec, 17 yds). Neither of them got much going on the ground until garbage time, but Hargrove is a shifty runner that can make plays in the open field. Up front the TAMU-C offensive line has a lot of size but isn’t very athletic. They struggled with the quickness of the defensive line last week.
Defensively, TAMU-C was completely outmatched last week and will be outmatched again this week. The Lions run a 4-2-5 and struggled to stop much of anything and displayed some very poor tackling. However, to their credit, the Lions did force 4 turnovers (1 came in garbage time) against an offense that was tabbed to finish atop the BSC in offensive production. Safeties Daryion Taylor (9 tak, 1 TFL, 1 INT) and Max Epps (8 tak, 1 INT) led the Lions in tackles last week and defensive end Warren Robinson (1 tak, 1 TFL, 1 sac) got a sack and a forced fumble.
On special teams the TAMU-C kicker, Emmanuel Adagbon (1/1 FG, 1/1 PAT), looks more than capable as he hit a 39 yard field goal that was set up by an interception right before halftime. Their punter, Mitchell McGarry (6 pnt, 38.8 ypp) had a busy night with a long of 46 yards. In the kick return game, Sean-Krystoff King had a long of 25 yards.
Position Advantage
- Quarterback: Hornets. The two Hornet quarterbacks are much better than the Lions.
- Running Backs: Hornets. Marcus Fulcher will be the best back on the field.
- Wide Receivers: Hornets. Hornet receivers are definitively better.
- Tight Ends: Hornets. Even if Marshel Martin doesn’t play, backups Charlie McBride or Coleman Kunts are better than Austin Samaha.
- Offensive Line: Hornets. The Hornet line is slightly smaller but much more athletic than the Lions.
- Defensive Line: Hornets. The Lions defensive line is a bit undersized.
- Linebackers: Hornets. Aarmon Bailey and Brock Mather are much better than Darryle Ware and Kyree Anderson.
- Defensive Backs: Lions. The Lions had 2 impressive picks against a good quarterback last week. At this point, they look more capable of jumping on mistakes than the Hornet secondary.
- Punters: Hornets. Cal McGough will have limited work compared to Mitchell McGarry in this one.
- Kickers: Lions. Emmanuel Adagbon has made a field goal from range, Zach Schreiner has not.
- Kick Returners: Lions. Sean-Krystoff King will just get way more opportunities than Elijah Tau-Tolliver in this one.
This game should be over well before halftime and the Hornets should dominate across the board. The Lions don’t have much D1 talent on the roster and just look like a total mess at multiple positions. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hornet coaching staff keeps anyone with minor injuries from playing in this one. Hornet win in a rout.
Stingers Up!
TAMU-C Week 1 Highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ7qH79xZF4
